Exercise treadmill and belt support apparatus

ABSTRACT

A simplified treadmill and belt support used for exercise purposes and for use as part of an ergometric system. An endless belt is driven over a support surface composed of a fabric such as canvas which is impregnated with wax. A suitable drive assembly causes continuous movement of the belt.

United States Patent Quinton 51 May2, 1972 [54] EXERCISE TREADMILL ANDBELT SUPPORT APPARATUS 72] Inventor: Wayne E. Quinton, Seattle, Wash.

[73] Assignee: Quinton Instrument Company, Seattle,

Wash.

[22] Filed: Apr. 10, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 27,287

[52] U.S. Cl 272/69, 198/184 [51] Int. Cl. ..A63b 23/06 [58] Field ofSearch ..l98/l84; 272/69, 56.5 SS

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Laurie ..l98/l84 2,558,7596/1951 Johnson ..272/56.5 SS 3,356,367 12/1967 Tewksbury. ..272/693,518,985 7/1970 Quinton Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham AssistantExaminerR. T. Stouffer Attorney-Christensen, Sanborn & Matthews 5 7]ABSTRACT A simplified treadmill and belt support used for exercisepurposes and for use as part of an ergometric system. An endless belt isdriven over a support surface composed of a fabric such as canvas whichis impregnated with wax. A suitable drive assembly causes continuousmovement of the belt.

11 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Patented May 2, 1912 3,659,845

' INVENTOR. WA V/VE E. QU/N T ON Wm/W EXERCISE TREADMILL AND BELTSUPPORT APPARATUS Various types of ergometric systems are in use at thepresent time. Treadmills having a moving endless belt are widely used insuch systems as well as in connection with exercise programs in general.In such treadmill assemblies an endless belt is driven at a selectedspeed so that an individual on the belt is forced to move at the ratedetermined by belt movement. Various types of treadmill assemblies areavailable with numerous arrangements being provided to support the beltbeneath the feet of the user. The power required to drive the belt isdependent on the frictional forces involved and thus most treadmillsutilize relatively expensive roller and bearing assemblies beneath thesection of belt where the user walks or runs. It would be desirable tohave a system wherein belt friction remains low without going to theexpense of rollers or other similar arrangements.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a treadmillassembly having an improved support surface for the endless beltthereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a treadmillassembly utilizing an improved support surface for the endless belt andwherein such support surface requires a minimum of maintenance.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a low costsupport surface for the belt of a treadmill exercise apparatus.

The above and additional advantages are achieved through use of a systemwherein a material such as canvas having a relatively rough surface isimpregnated with a lubricant such as wax and is positioned beneath theportion of the endless belt walked upon by the user. The impregnation ofthe material is preferably done through the application of heat to causethe wax to melt and flow into the material. It has been found that ifthe amount of wax used is controlled so that the resultant compositematerial made of cloth and wax is irregular, the frictional forcesinvolved are reduced.

The above and additional advantages and objects of the invention will bemore clearly understood from the following description when read withreference to the accompanying drawings wherein,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exercise treadmill assembly embodyingthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of the belt and support apparatusillustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged cross-sectional view of the belt andsupport material located therebeneath.

Turning now to the drawings it will be seen that the inventive conceptsare incorporated in a treadmill assembly having an endless belt whichpasses around the end rollers 11 and 12 supported on shafts 11A and 12A.The roller 12 is driven at a selected speed by a suitable drivemechanism (generally an electric motor and gear system) of the typewhich per se is well known in the art. A control panel 13 permits theuser to select the speed at which the belt 10 is driven. The portion ofthe belt indicated at 10A is supported by the upper flat portion 14A ofthe support frame 14 which carries the shafts 11A and 12A. It will beseen that when the equipment is in use with a person walking or runningon the belt, the upper portion of the belt 10A will be repeatedlyimpacted against the support surface 14. As the belt is driven theweight of the individual then continues to press the belt 10 against thesupporting surface located beneath the belt. Frictional forces betweenthe belt 10A and the support surface tend to generate heat which has inthe past created various types of problems unless elaborate bearing andsupport systems are provided.

In accordance with the teachings of the present invention the fiatsupport surface 14A is covered by a composite structure illustrated asbeing made of a rectangular piece of plywood 18 having a rough texturedcloth material such as canvas 19 adhered thereto. In FIG. 3 the cloth 19is held to the wood 18 by any suitable glue 20. The portion of thecanvas surface 19 over which the belt 10 runs is impregnated with asuitable wax 21. Carnauba wax has been found to work well.

The plywood 18 can be held to the steel frame 14 in any suitable manner.The countersunk screws 22 work well and permit easy removal of thesupport surface assembly for maintenance or replacement.

It is preferable that the rough textured material 19 be impregnated withwax only to the extent necessary to coat the entire upper surfacewithout destroying the textured aspects of the surface. That is, it willbe observed in FIG. 3 that the wax impregnated material still has highpoints and valleys even though the entire surface is wax coated. Whileapplicant is not certain as to all of the reasons why this arrangementresults in a greatly reduced amount of friction being involved when aperson walks or runs on the endless belt, it is believed that part ofthe reason may be due to the fact that the belt 10 rides on the highpoints of the composite support surface. The wax in the area ofincreased pressure may tend to melt momentarily due to this increasedpressure. Any such melting would of course terminate shortly after theinitiation thereof since the belt as soon as being driven against thesupport surface would move rearwardly (to the left in the drawings) andhence the pressure would be reduced on that area. Regardless of thereasons it has been found in practice that the frictional forces do notcreate a heat problem when this arrangement is used.

While various materials can be utilized it has been found in practicethat canvas or similar cloth having a rough textured surface works wellin combination with a nylon belt 10. Thus not only is the manufacturingcost low by comparison to the cost involved in the manufacture of othersupport surfaces typically used in treadmill assemblies, but it has alsobeen found in practice that the upkeep associated with the resultingstructure is negligible. While the wax can be of various types andapplied in different ways it has been found in practice that groundcarnauba wax spread over the canvas material, and then melted in placethrough the use of a hot iron, produces a highly desirable supportsurface. One such treadmill assembly using this arrangement as thebearing surface has provided trouble-free service for several thousandmiles of walking" without any need for replacement or re-waxing of thesurface.

What is claimed is:

1. An exercise treadmill assembly comprising an endless belt, drivemeans for moving said belt, and support means disposed beneath a portionof the path traveled by said belt including an irregular surface atleast a portion of which is wax coated, said belt being made of nylonand said support means including a piece of canvas having its uppersurface impregnated with wax.

2. In an exercise treadmill, a movably mounted belt and a supportassembly for said belt, said support assembly comprising a section ofrough textured material having a wax coating there-on, and substantiallyplanar support means disposed beneath said material adapted to hold saidmaterial in a substantially planar position beneath a portion of thepath of travel of the belt of the treadmill.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said material is canvas.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said wax is carnauba wax.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said support means includes a sheetof wood.

6. In combination, a movably mounted belt, drive means for moving thebelt, and means opposite one face of the belt defining a surface tosupport a portion of the belt against deflection normal to the face ofthe belt, which surface has a piece of interwoven fibrous materialsecured in superposition thereon, the fibrous strands of which defineopen-ended recesses therebetween, which recesses have a low meltingpoint thermoplastic lubricant material deposited therein, whichlubricant material coats the defining fibers of the recesses and is in asolidified state assumed from a fused in situ condition on the fibrousmaterial.

7. The combination according to claim 6 wherein the surface is planarand substantially rigid, and the fibrous material is directly securedthereto.

8. The combination according to claim 7 wherein the fibrous material isbonded to the surface.

9. The combination according to claim 6 wherein the lubricant materialis a wax.

10. The combination according to claim 6 wherein the deposits oflubricant material substantially fill the recesses but recesses, so thatsaid portions are elevated relatively thereabove to form high points forcontact with the belt 11. The combination according to claim 10 whereinthe are g y depressed in the direction of the surface and with 5elevated portions are also coated with the lubricant material.

respect to portions of the strands defining the respective

1. An exercise treadmill assembly comprising an endless belt, drivemeans for moving said belt, and support means disposed beneath a portionof the path traveled by said belt including an irregular surface atleast a portion of which is wax coated, said belt being made of nylonand said support means including a piece of canvas having its uppersurface impregnated with wax.
 2. In an exercise treadmill, a movablymounted belt and a support assembly for said belt, said support assemblycomprising a section of rough textured material having a wax coatingthere-on, and substantially planar support means disposed beneath saidmaterial adapted to hold said material in a substantially planarposition beneath a portion oF the path of travel of the belt of thetreadmill.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said material is canvas.4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said wax is carnauba wax.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 2 wherein said support means includes a sheet ofwood.
 6. In combination, a movably mounted belt, drive means for movingthe belt, and means opposite one face of the belt defining a surface tosupport a portion of the belt against deflection normal to the face ofthe belt, which surface has a piece of interwoven fibrous materialsecured in superposition thereon, the fibrous strands of which defineopen-ended recesses therebetween, which recesses have a low meltingpoint thermoplastic lubricant material deposited therein, whichlubricant material coats the defining fibers of the recesses and is in asolidified state assumed from a fused in situ condition on the fibrousmaterial.
 7. The combination according to claim 6 wherein the surface isplanar and substantially rigid, and the fibrous material is directlysecured thereto.
 8. The combination according to claim 7 wherein thefibrous material is bonded to the surface.
 9. The combination accordingto claim 6 wherein the lubricant material is a wax.
 10. The combinationaccording to claim 6 wherein the deposits of lubricant materialsubstantially fill the recesses but are slightly depressed in thedirection of the surface and with respect to portions of the strandsdefining the respective recesses, so that said portions are elevatedrelatively thereabove to form high points for contact with the belt. 11.The combination according to claim 10 wherein the elevated portions arealso coated with the lubricant material.